The Prince of St Bismarck
by Moviefreak523
Summary: The Knothole Kingdom welcomes a prince from the Kingdom of St. Bismarck in the hopes of convincing him to have his kingdom join in the war against the Eggman Empire. After he arrives, Mina learns about Ash's past, Amy have doubts about her abilities and her love for Sonic, and Sally and Sonic must decide if they are made for each other or for somebody else. Based on Archie Comic
1. Prologue

**Prologue: The Big Hit**

"Dr. Robonik, your guest has arrived," the computer said with its line jagging as it say its words.

"It's about time," the large Overlander replied, turning his attention away from his latest project. "Send him in."

The door separated in half, letting in a short purple weasel with a brown fedora hat and gun holsters around his waist, each side holding a six-shooter, his favorite type of firearm.

He was Nack the Weasel, known as one of the best hitman on Mobius, able to get his mark with one shot. However, as of late, rumors were spreading around about his need to use two, sometimes even three shots for every target he was hired for. So much so that business had not been all that good for the purple Mobian. However, Nack refused to acknowledge them, commented that they were just that, rumors. However, for Dr. Robotnik, rumors or no, he believed that he was the right Mobian for the job.

"Dr. Robotnik," Nack said as he approached the large Overlander. "It's quite the honor to be asked for a job by the Big Man himself."

"I only asked you because I believe that you are the most capable in pulling this hit off, both in your qualities and circumstances."

"How flattering. How about we just cut the chit-chat and get right to the chase?"

"Very well," Robotnik leaned back into his chair, pressing his fingers together. "The job that I want you to take will occur in the Knothole Kingdom."

"Huh?" Nack gave a little surprise yelp as he began to sweat. "Knothole?"

Raising an eyebrow, Robotnik asked, "Is there something the matter?"

"Oh, no, no, no, no," the weasel waved his hands in front of him. "It's just that I'm not a very popular guy in that town. That would make it pretty dangerous for me, and that also means that my price also rises."

"I guess it can't be helped. No matter," waving the issue away, "all I want to know is whether you can deliver the hit?"

"Let me guess, you want me to bump off that blue hedgehog of yours?"

"NO!" the Overlander slammed his fist onto his chair, making the weasel jumped back with his arms up in for defense against anything that might make its way to him. "That honor belongs to me, and to nobody else! Don't even think about trying to take him out on your own!"

"Alright, alright, geez. I'm just joking," he said as he dropped his arms down. "Don't need to raise your blood-pressure over it."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Robotnik let out a growling sigh.

"So, who's the lucky person?"

"This should be an easy job, but I'll pay you big time if you accomplish it."

"_When _I accomplish it, you mean."

"Yes, of course. Anyway, your target is planning on having a little concert tomorrow night."

Nack, confused, rubbed his chin. "Concert? Are you talking about that mongoose chick? The one with that world tour happening soon?"

"Correctomundo. Mina Mongoose will be your target."

Usually, Nack does not dwell on the reasons for why their employer would want a person dead. It has nothing to do with him or his feelings as he could not give a crap. However, there were times that his curiosity would get the better of him and he just had to ask. "If you don't mind me asking, but why do you want to knock off some pop singer, besides the fact that she's one of Sonic's friends?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Just a little curious, is all. Don't worry, I'm not saying no."

Sighing, Robotnik decided that he might as well tell him his reason. "Very well, if you must know. It all started two days ago when I decided, for no apparent reason, to turn on the radio. When I did, a song made by that 'Songoose' was playing.

"IT WAS THE MOST HORRIBLE, DISGUSTING, DISPICTABLE, AND INSULTING THING I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!"

Nack, standing dumbfounding by this, watched as the big Overlander regained his breathing to continue on with his story. "I thought I was going to die of blood loss my ears were bleeding so badly! So, to remedy this, I had all of my robots get all of those terrible albums and whatever memorabilia there were of that Mina Mongoose all burned to ashes! But, that was not enough because that stupid song is now stuck in my head, and it has been keeping me awake and I hardly gotten any sleep because of it!"

Nack lifted his eyebrows in amazement by this deceptively trivial reason for his wanting the mongoose girl dead. It would make more sense to him if he wanted to kill her just to hurt Sonic.

"Okay," he accepted it.

"And, I don't just want you to just go in there and kill her outright. Oh, no, no, no, no. That would be too nice. I want this to be my unique form of critique of her music, if you can call it that. I want her death to be witnessed by her countless of fans when they go see her performing her swan song."

"Uh-huh." _Geez, this guy's losing more screws with Sonic's constant screwing with his head for far too long_, Nack thought. "So, you want me to whack the girl while she performing onstage tomorrow night, right?"

"Bingo," Robotnik smiled, happy to see that his wish was finally coming true.

As crazy as the whole thing sounded, Nack shrugged, figuring that it was just another job and another payday. "Eh, sounds simple enough. Now, for the next part."

"Of course, of course. I'm willing to pay you 10,000 Mobian dollars for the hit."

"Better make it 30,000."

"That's robbery!"

"Fine. 25,000."

"15,000."

"23,000."

"17.5."

"21."

"19,500 and I'll put in a good word for you."

Nack hated being constantly reminded about his status, but he needed all of the good word of mouth that he could get. And, this job could be the ticket to get him out of the lull in his career. "Deal," he said as he stuck his hand forward with Robotnik sealing the new contract.

"You drive a hard bargain, Nack."

"Hey, a weasel's gotta eat." With that, he turned and exited the lab, leaving the mad doctor to continue on with his work.

Course, for a hitman who has been down on his luck, 10,000 Mobian dollars was more than enough, considering the job. He only bargained with Robotnik just to see how much money the Overlander was willing to pay. Judging by how that went, he wanted it done. Badly.

"Such a shame, though. She is a good looking girl. Hope that new boyfriend of hers gave her as much fun as he could." Laughing, he began formulating some plans for tomorrow in order for him to score some easy money.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter I: The Stage is Set**

Ash Mongoose walked toward the field where the stage was set up for the night and tomorrow. The weather report looked to be beautiful for the concert so there should not be any cause of concerns of getting the concerts ready on time. He was also pleased that those extra speakers that he ordered had finally arrived with some time to spare. He hoped that they would be enough for the world tour coming that this concert was setting up for Mina, whom he had noticed that she had been getting really nervous about it. This would be her first time ever going out doing something this big in her life and she had been worried about how it would go and if people would actually come and listen to her as the people here in Knothole had. Ash harbored no doubts about the success that they will amount as they travel to some of Mobius' biggest cities. They are only going to a handful of them, but it would be a good start for someone of her experiences.

Approaching the stage, Ash studied the whole thing, securitizing it to make sure that nothing was out of place. The grounds were the perfect place with its huge space and the Lake of Rings added a nice touch to the scene. He wanted the concert to go off without a hitch, and he was going to make sure that does not happen.

As he got closer, he noticed that there was a huge pile of something that was covering a huge portion of the stage. Curiously agitated, he picked up his pace and got to the stage quicker so he could see what it was.

As he got closer, he had already figured out what he was looking at. A huge pile full of bouquet of flowers lay in the center. He could see roses, daffodils, tulips, and a whole bunch of other different species laying in front of him like a roadblock to the upcoming world tour as he stared at them incredulously.

"Where the hell did they come from?" he said, could not believe what he was looking at.

"Aren't they beautiful, Ash?"

Ash turned and found Mina standing behind him with a sunny smile on her face. She jumped up into him, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly and kissing him like he was the one who sent her the gift. She seemed very pleased by the pile of flowers that greeted her when she arrived. However, Ash was not impressed by it as he let her go and crossed his arms like she had done something unacceptable to him. Sometime she acted a little childish about these sorts of things, he feared.

"Mina," he said as he gave her a stern look. "Where did these flowers came from?"

"I'm not really sure, but I guess that they came from the fans," she smiled, clearly happy by them. By the size of the pile, it looked like the entire Kingdom of Knothole came to visit as some point. "I guess this was their way of saying good luck with the tour."

"Well, it's starting to look like that somebody had died here. Seriously, we need to get rid of them, now."

"Don't worry. They'll be gone by tonight."

"No, I want them gone, now. Where are those stage handlers?" Ash asked as he started to look for them.

"You're not going to throw them away, are you?"

"That's the idea. If you want to keep some of them, grab them now."

Giving up trying to find those good-for-nothing handlers, he found Mina looking rather dejected as she traced the ground with the tip of her boots. "What's wrong?" he asked, but he knew where the conversation was going.

"N-Nothing," she said, her eyes looking away as if embarrassed by what was on her mind.

"Doesn't look like nothing." He walked up to her and tilted her head as they look at each other. "You still nervous about the world tour?"

She twitted with her fingers as she gave him a nervous smile and giggle. "Yeah."

"Don't worry about it, Mina. I know you'll do fine. And, it's not really much of a world tour, to say the least, but I figured that you may want to have a little taste of it so you can start getting used to it and-"

"Don't me wrong, Ash," she said, giving him more genuine smile. "I'm very excited about it. Maybe I'm just as nervous about it, as well. And, seeing those flowers from everybody really made me feel like I could take on the whole world. So…me throwing them away…" she stopped, again dropping her eyes away from him, nervous of how he would take her reasoning.

"You don't want to throw them away because it would be like stepping on their well-being, is that it?"

She sheepishly nodded her head.

"Mina," he voice calm. "I don't have a problem with them leaving gifts like this. It's just that this is a bit excessive, don't you think?" He pointed at the pile of bouquet of flowers.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," she said, finally acknowledging his reasoning.

"I mean, I don't think you have a thousand vases all stored up in your home and I don't think they all would fit in your dressing room."

She giggled as she played with a lock of her purple hair. "Well, I wasn't thinking about taking all of them with me. Just, you know, do something with them besides just throwing them away. I mean what a waste that would be."

"Well, do you have any ideas?" he encouraged her as he gave his smile, ready to listen. As a manager, all he wanted was to make sure that the concert would draw in the most people to Mina. He knew that the young girl had the power to do that. She did not seem to realize that effect she had.

Mina thought for about a minute, trying to come up with a great way of utilizing the flowers, but she came up short as her face became more dejected that she was ready to call it quits.

"Um, excuse me?" A young voice called out, grabbing the two mongoose attention as they look down and found a young girl rabbit. She looked to be around ten or eleven, wearing an orange dress with a blue tie. Flying over her head, a blue Chao looking up at them as well. Cupped in her hands in front of her was a bundle of blue tulips, which Ash reacted with a groan.

"Just what we need, more flowers," Ash grumbled.

"Ash, be nice," Mina said, smiling down at the newcomer. "Yes, can we help you?"

"Excuse me for being presumable, but I wondering if you are Miss Mina Mongoose?"

_Presumable?_ Ash thought, surprised by the vocabulary skills from a kid her age.

"Well, you presume right," Mina smiled as she knelt down in front of the young girl. "I am Mina Mongoose."

Big smiles were formed on her lips as well as the flying Chao as it made backflips above her head, giving off like bouts of "Chao!" in celebration.

"Hi, Miss Mina! I've been wanting to meet you for so long!" the young girl beamed.

"Well, I'm glad that you did, and it's so nice to meet more of my fans," she said, beaming just as brightly. She always loves kids, Ash thought. "What is your name?"

"I'm Cream the Rabbit. And this is Cheese."

"Chao!" the little Chao replied enthusiastically as Mina shook his little hand.

"Oh, my," the pop start squeal. "He's so adorable! I love the little flower on his head."

_Hope he does add to our glowing collection_ the male mongoose thought as he eyed the pile as if trying to shoot fire at them.

"I got you some flowers," Cream held them out for Mina to accepted, but she pulled them back when she spotted the huge pile of them on stage. "But, it looks like you already have a bunch of them."

"Oh, those," Mina said as she looked at them, reminded of their fate. Knowing that she cannot think of a good idea, she had no choice but to accept the inevitable. "Yeah, there are a lot of them. Unfortunately, as much as I love them, we have to get rid of them for the concert tonight."

"What?" Cream cried out, nearly making the mongoose girl jump. "But why do you want to throw them away? They are so beautiful." Both Cream and Cheese look up to their idol with pleading eyes which made Mina feel like the villain.

"Uh…um, well…what I mean is…"

Ash could sense that the pop star was losing control as she tried to come up with an explanation to keep her from losing a fan because of this little incident. Coming to the rescue, Ash walked and stood in between the both of them, interjecting as he kneel down to Cream's eye level.

'Hi Cream, Cheese," he gave his best smile to them. "I'm Ash. I'm the manager for the concert tonight. I make sure that Mina's show goes as smoothly as possible."

"Oh, hi, Mr. Ash," she said, bowing down to him and the Chao copying her.

_Well, she's very well-mannered_ he thought. He figured that this this would not be as hard to do as he thought.

"So, are you Miss Mina's boss?" Cream asked.

Taken by surprise by the question, Ash answered, "More or less. Anyway, I've noticed that you have an issue with the flowers."

"Oh, yes. Miss Mina said that you want to throw them away. Is that true? Please, tell me that isn't true." She begged him with some tears forming in her eyes. The young rabbit really love flowers.

Figuring her as a smart girl, he was certain that she can listen to reason. "Listen, Cream. Those flowers, as beautiful as they are, are a safety hazard."

"Safety hazard?"

"Yes. As you can see, they take up a good portion of the stage, and they can both get in the way of Mina and be a constant distraction for the audience while she tries to deliver her performance. But, it is not just for her, but for the other people who have to work the lights and curtains during the concert. So, they don't really serve a purpose here."

The two look at the pile of flowers and, seemingly to understand, dropped their heads in melancholy. "I guess that does make sense."

He looked back at Mina, smiling triumphantly. "See? Simple."

"Oh, I know!" Cream shouted, grabbing the mongooses' attention. "I know how they can serve a purpose."

"Huh?" Ash said, confused.

"How about we decorate the stage with them?"

"HUH?"

Her eyes beaming, Mina gave a happy squeal. "Oh, my gosh! That's a great idea! Cream, you are a genius!" She ran up to Cream and grabbed her hands as the two girls danced with joy for the idea.

Ash, however, wanted to stop the whole thing dead in its tracks. "Whoa, hold it," he yelled as the two girls and the Chao stop their celebration to look at him. "Mina, I thought we agreed to get rid of them."

"No, we didn't," Mina said in a matter-of-fact tone. "You asked me if there was any way I wanted to use the flowers, right?"

Flabbergasted, Ash knew that he was backed up against the corner. "R-Right. Yeah, I did say that, didn't I? But, do you realize how long that's going to take? The concert is at seven. You don't expect me to believe that the two of you and a Chao will get it done by then?"

"Don't worry, I'll find some volunteers who can help us out," she said, putting more vigor into her mission.

"But, Mina…" Ash tried to come up with other reasons as he wanted the flowers out of his sight, but the two girls and the Chao were ganging up on him, waiting for him to give in. "I don't want you to be working all day wasting your energy that you could be using for tonight's show."

"We'll get it done way before then and I'll have plenty of time to rest."

"Mina-"

"Ash, we are doing this!" Mina demanded, pushing her face closer to her manager.

"No, you are not," he forced back.

"Please, Ash," she cupped her hands together in a begging manner as she gave her best pouting look. "You promised."

"No, I did not promise."

"Well, you asked."

"You didn't come up with the idea. The kid did."

"Well, I love the idea."

Before Ash could retort, he felt a tugging from his shirt behind him. He turned around and found Cream looking up at him, giving him a even bigger pouting look than Mina could.

"Kid, stay out of this," he said.

"Please, Mr. Ash," Cream begged as he inched closer to him, her eyes watering with tears. "Can't we make the stage even prettier?"

"Will you go home?" he demanded as he stuck his thumb out, but she ignored it as he walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his stomach in a hug. He was taken by surprise by this, to say the least.

"Kid, what the hell are you-" Then, he found Mina wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing herself up to him as she snuggled up him. "Mina, stop acting like a little kid. I don't know what you two doing, but it's not going to-" As a final touching, Cheese floating towards the annoyed mongoose's head, holding on to the top left side in his black hair, snuggling in as if ready to take a nap. He let out a growled as the three held on tightly to him, giving as much love as they could to soften the stone set in his heart. And, eventually, it did.

"Alright, alright, you win," he said. "Just make sure to have this done by one this afternoon."

"Oh, thank you Ash! Thank you, thank you!" Mina cheered, kissing him joyously on his cheeks while Cream and Cheese celebrated more as they spin around with glee. "You are the best!" She let him go, which he still had not reacted at all to the whole thing as he still wore the agitated look on his face. "I'll get as many people from the village and we can get started. Oh, I love you so much, sweetie!" Giving him a final kiss on the lips, she sped off of the concert grounds and disappeared into the village to bring back an army of her faithful fans as her manager and boyfriend watched in bated anticipation.

_You know, now that I think about it,_ he thought, _the more I feel that she is more of the boss of this operation than I am._ Letting out a sigh of some contentment, he was about to proceed with his own business that he have set himself for the day. However, he found that the young rabbit and her pet Chao did not follow their idol but stayed with him, looking up with stars in their eyes. "Yes?" he asked.

"You're really a nice person, Mr. Ash!" she beamed as the Chao nodded in approval.

He scratched his head, feeling rather embarrassed by this praised being heaped on by a little girl. "Just call me Ash," he said, not really caring about anything as of the moment. Then, he realized that it was just the two of them which stuck him as little weird, like there was something missing the whole time. "Hey, Cream?"

"Yes, Mr. Ash?"

"Did you come out here all by yourself?"

"No. I came here with Cheese."

"No, no. That's not what I meant. Are your parents with you?"

The young rabbit's smile dropped from her face as it changed into a frown. "Well, I had my mom. She was taken by Dr. Eggman not too long ago."

Ash could feel a chill running up his spine as he realized that he had possibly opened a fairly recent wound. A child losing their parents seemed to be the theme here in Knothole after knowing much of its history when he first arrived to Knothole.

"Well, what about your dad?"

Her face drooped further to the ground. "I don't have a dad." Cheese flew down to his friend's face, comforting Cream with a pat to the cheek.

Ash slapped his forehead, could not believe that he did not stop when he realized that it could be a painful subject for the girl. He could not figure out what to say next in fear of making it worse. He constantly thought of another subject that the two could talk about.

"So….you like flowers?" He asked cautiously.

Thankfully for him, Cream lifted her head and she held a big smile on her face. "Oh, I love flowers. Roses are so pretty, but I always thought that honeysuckles are pretty as well. But, I think the sunflower is my favorite because…"

Ash, personally, could not care less about flowers, but he figured it was better for her than to talk about her missing mother. Plus, she had such a passion for the subject that he could not help but listen intently to her as she name many flowers that she found to her liking.

"-my mom and I have this big garden where we have so many different flowers, like hundreds of them, and Cheese and all of the other Chaos would play in them and…" she slowly stopped with her explanation as the topic seemed to had brought back the previous one much to Ash's chagrin. "I really miss her," she finally said.

That final statement by Cream had struck a chord in his heart. A little girl who had her entire life taken away from her by a mad Overlander. Hearing stories like those made him wondered why this war had went on for so long and why the Freedom Fighters could not just finish the whole thing already instead of waiting around. And, it reminded him a past that he was still running away from but it continued to haunt him, no matter how much time had passed. In a way, he found himself sympathizing with the town, if there was one thing he could with this small kingdom.

Looking down at the sad rabbit, he placed his hand on top of her head in between her ears and gently petted her in comfort. Cream looked up and he gave her a small smile. "I'm sure she will be fine," he said, feeling a little confident with his words. "I mean, you do have people who will stop Eggman, right?" That part, however, he had to force himself to say it in order to make her feel better.

It worked as her smile returned. "Yes. You're right, Mr. Ash." The mongoose could not help but smile back at her. As much as he disliked the Freedom Fighters and their tactics, they were this kingdom's best hope for survival.

"There you are, Cream," a voiced called out which the two of them recognized as they turn their heads toward the source as it came into view. A pink hedgehog in a red dress walking up to them from the village below, looking rather pissy about something, Ash noticed. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Sorry about that, Amy," Cream said. "I just wanted to meet Miss Mina."

"That's understandable," she said, ignoring the other mongoose as he crossed his arms in annoyance. "But, why are you with him?" the hedgehog pointed her eyes in disgust at Ash.

"Oh, Miss Mina just left a few minutes ago. We were just waiting for her to come back with some volunteers to help decorate the stage with flowers," Cream explained.

"Really?" Amy replied, getting a little excited by it. "Mind if I join in?"

"I think Mina will find enough help in the village without having to ask any of the Freedom Fighters," Ash said, hoping to get her out of here before Mina returned.

"Hey, I've got nothing going on right now."

"But, I thought you said that you've got training at the castle," Cream said.

"I got out early, on the account that I needed to take care of you," Amy said before turning he gaze back at the mongoose. "And, it looks like I came just in time before he starts to harass you."

"Harass?" Cream asked, looking at the annoyed mongoose in confusion. "But, Mr. Ash has been nothing but nice to me." Cheese nodded in agreement.

"Give him time. I'm sure he'll think of something to make fun of you."

"I think you are confusing 'making fun of' with 'constructive criticism'," Ash said as he moved forward, asserting his authority of the concert grounds.

"I don't think calling my Sonic a 'lousy show-off' counts as constructive criticism," Amy said. "You always acted as if you are better than him, yet you have not done anything to prove it besides mouthing off. You are just all talk and no action."

"You think I'm going to take advice from a little girl who thinks she's already an adult?" the mongoose said and started poking her in the forehead. "Listen, you brat, you may have fought Eggman for most of your life, but you don't know one thing about life."

"Will you stop calling me a 'brat'?" Amy said as her infamous Piko-Piko Hammer appeared in her hand. "I dare you to call me that again so I can knock out into orbit."

"I like to see you try, Annie."

"That's Amy!"

"Ash! Amy!" Mina suddenly appeared in between the two Mobians as they gave each other death glares. "Whatever is was, stop it! Do you two have to fight every time you meet?"

Dropping her glare, Amy back down. "Well, he started it?"

"Well, actually, you did, Amy," Cream said as the Chao nodded in agreement again.

"Whose side are you two on?" Amy yelled.

"See, even the little girl is smart enough to know the difference," Ash taunted.

"Ash, stop it, now!" Mina said.

"Alright, Babe," he said. He saw the many volunteers that Mina had managed to get as a huge gang of them walked towards them and the stage. From what he could tell they are all female and pre-teen, or, at least, younger than the singer that they are all fans of.

"You found them all that quickly?" Ash said, clearly impressed.

"Well, I know you like to keep a tight schedule," Mina said. "So, I just went to the places that I'm sure I could get the biggest turnout."

"I'll say," Amy said, waving to some of her girlfriends in the bunch who waved back as well. "Say, Mina. Mind if I join in to help out?"

"Sure," Mina said cheerfully. Amy stuck her tongue out at Ash in victory, which he ignored. He already turned his attention to the arriving group.

"Alright, then." Ash said as the group reached their destination. "I want to thank you all for coming out on your free time to help us out. In case Mind didn't tell you, she wants everybody to help decorate the stage with all of the flowers up there," he then turned to Mina. "Mina, why don't you grab some of the stage handlers to help out as well? I don't want to have a lawsuit on our hands."

"Okay, Sweetie," she said.

He went up to the group as they waited for any further instructions. He does notice that some of them did have some questionable stares, no doubt really dislike him. As long as they are doing this to help Mina, he could not care less about what they thought of him. However, that did not mean that he does not know how to be generous whenever it was deserved.

"Alright, ladies," he said. "I'll be buying some pizza as thanks. Any preferences?"

All at once, everyone shouted out what sort of toppings they want.

* * *

"Seriously, Mina," Amy asked as Ash listened to everybody's suggestions for pizza. "What the heck do you even see in him?"

"Amy, how many do I have to explain myself?" Mina said, as she was getting tired of having to go through with it once again. "Ash is not a bad guy."

"Well, aren't you a little mad that he talks trash about us, especially Sonic?"

"Yes, of course I do," she said. "And, we've talked about it a lot. He hasn't said anything about it, did he?"

"No, he didn't," Amy said as she lets out a frustrated sigh, feeling like she had already lost.

"Then, the matter is close," she said forcefully, but she quickly dropped it as she grabbed her friend's hands and squeezed them to let her know that she still care for her. "Amy, I know that you are worried about me and I promise you that he has not hurt me in anyway. And, as much as he does not like you all, he is not keeping me away from all of you."

"That is true," Amy said, looking confused as she looked at Ash as he walked away from the group. "But, it wouldn't hurt him to be a little friendlier."

"I know, I know. He can be a pain sometimes when it comes to my rehearsals and my songwriting at first, but I can't help but find a little charm from it. It just shows that he really cares about me."

"Whatever," Amy said.

"I think he's very nice, Miss Mina," Cream chimed in.

"Thank you, Cream," Mina smiled at the young rabbit. She then turned her attention back to Amy. "I'm sure, sooner or later, that you will change your mind about him."

"Don't count on it," the pink hedgehog said. Mina looked at her friend and found that she was still upset as she leaned on her hammer, staring off to somewhere.

"Amy, are you okay?" Mina asked.

"I'm fine. I'm just not having a good morning, and your boyfriend helped."

Mina could guess what was bugging her friend as she turned to Cream for some confirmation. "Cream, did something happen recently?"

"I don't know," Cream answered, whispering to the mongoose, "but she was supposed to be at the castle for training. She told me this morning that she would be there until this afternoon. Maybe something happened there."

Mina looked back at the pink hedgehog as she stood looking off as if nothing matter to her. Clearly something was bugging her. "Amy, did something happen while you were at training?"

Letting out a dejected sigh, Amy turned to her friend. "Yeah. It's stupid, really."

"What happened?" Cream asked, also concerned for her friend.

"I don't know. Sally just told me to go leave early so that I could take care of you. I kept telling her that you would be fine since, but she kept insisting that I go." she shook her head in confusion. "To tell you the truth, I can't but feel that she wanted me gone for an entirely different reason."

"What do you mean?" Cream asked.

"Were you doing something wrong during training?" Mina asked.

"No!" Amy yelled, getting irritated. "I was training with Sonic! And, we were going pretty well for a while until she interrupted us!" She growled as she gripped her hammer again, looking like she was ready to swing it at any minute. The two Mobians and the Chao cautiously stepped back a bit.

"I guess she still hasn't forgiven Sally for you-know-what," Cream whispered to Mina. The mongoose only nodded.

It had been about three months since Sonic's return from space after a whole of year of believing that he was dead. Everybody was getting used to the idea of the great hero being gone forever when he returned. She knoew that Amy and Sally were hurting really bad and so was Mina. Until she found Ash.

He first came to Knothole just after Sonic's supposable death, but she first met Ash while he was sleeping out on the bench in the park in the evening. She was surprised to find a homeless person in Knothole and it awoken her heart to help care for another person.

His clothes was torn and his black hair was a mess, hiding his eyes behind them as she took him to Rosie's home where the old woodchuck excepted him into her home. He was quiet the whole time, letting himself be taken as if he did not care what they do to him, just letting fate to take the wheel. Mina visited Rosie while Ash was staying there whenever she had the time and usually stay there for a long time. At first, the two hardly talked, but they let the silence be a companion rather than an inhibiter. It was not long until the two began to say more than just a few sentences to each other, then it evolved to small talk and to full conversations. They quickly became friends and it was not long until the two went into a relationship.

As much as Sonic was her first love, Ash was the first where her feelings were returned and committed to a relationship. It was a lot different than what she imagined as they were not only boyfriend and girlfriend, but he also played the part as her manager. As she stated before, Ash can be a hard pusher when it came to her concerts that by the time that he call it a day, she would be limping back to her home and crawling into her bed for some sleep. However, as she admit, all that hard work was paying off as her popularity sour like a falcon and fanbases were popping up all around the world and they were waiting for her to come and visit them, to perform for them. However, as much as she would give so much credit to Ash for making it all happened, she would thank Sonic for talking her into singing in the first place. As she would not confess to Ash, Sonic did hold a special place in her heart.

"Excuse me, ladies." Mina and everybody turned their attention to Ash as he stood on the stage next to the still lying pile of flowers. "I'm not buying you pizza for all of you to just stand around. Get those flowers up." He walked away through the curtain, letting his words tell them that he meant it.

"He could have just said 'please'," Amy said.

Mina, ignoring Amy's remark, jumped up onto the stage and started address to her loyal fans. "Alright, everybody. I promised Ash to have the whole thing done by one. Let's get to work!"

Everybody cheered and they tell started attacking the pile of flowers, grabbing them and going off to different parts of the stage to work on. The whole time, Mina could not help but feel that this would the best concert that Knothole will never forget.

* * *

Princess Sally looked over the railing down at the large training area below here where her friends and teammates battle against each other in the hopes of bettering themselves in future battles. Sounds of grunts echoed off from the walls as each one was pitted against another. It seemed that the Chaotix and her Freedom Fighters decided to battle each other as one member from each team face one-on-one.

Fiona flipped like a gymnast as she avoided the fake blasters fired from Julie-Su. Knuckles, in his continuation in training Tails, faces him off as the young fox threw continuing punches and kicks. In another part of the arena, Mighty matched his strength against her best friend Bunnie while his little buddy, Ray, handled Charmy in a friendly duel. Even thought this was supposed to be taken seriously, she knew that they were all having a blast. She wished that she was down there along with them.

"Good morning, Princess Sally," a weak voice called from behind. Sally turned around and found General Armand D'Coolette entering the training facility.

"Good morning, General," she answered, happy to find a kind face. "I did not expect you to be visiting us this morning."

"I was only passing by when I remembered that you arranged all of this," he said as the joined Sally as another spectator. "It seemed that everybody has taken my advice to heart."

"More so than you believe. This is a very good idea, General. They all look like that are all getting stronger along with their team work."

"Yes," the old general agreed. "They are all great warriors, but even a little practice is as valuable as any perfect battle plan."

Sally managed to pick out Sonic from the near total chaos down below as he faced Espio the Chameleon, managing to escape from his oppentant's hold. After that, he made a beeline to Knuckles as he continued to parry and dodge every punch the young fox gave. He gave the red echidna a firm slap on the behind before running off to be faced with a powerful punch from the pissed off Mobian. Sally just shook her head in with amusement, but also with disbelief.

"Sometimes I wonder if Sonic will ever grow up," Sally said.

"Boys do tend to mature slower than girls. That being said, he is the best out of everybody down there."

"I know that. Ironic that his maturity is the slowest out of everybody down there, as well."

"And, I see that somebody is missing," the general said as he looked down as if his eyes were deciving him. "Where is Miss Rose?"

"I told her that she can leave early so that she can take Cream," Sally said, not wanting to go forward with the conversation.

The old general gave a curt nod before he started to cough loudly, covering his mouth as he let out more strong sickening ones that almost sound like he was about to vomit. "Forgive me for that, Princess."

"That cough still bothering, General?" Sally asked. "Do you want me to get you something to drink?"

"No, thank you, Princess," he said weakly as he held on to his head as if it was about to fall off.

"You know, Father and Mother have been showing the same type of symptoms as you are lately," Sally said as she took the weak general to the chair for him to rest.

"Yes, I've realized that, as well," the general said as he sat down. "Doctor Quack believes that, at least your father and I, have the same illness, but he does not know what it could be. He hypothesizes that it could be battle related that it was some kind of poison." He coughed again, sounding even louder as sweat flowed down his face.

"In that case, I don't think you should be out walking around in your condition."

"Yes, yes. I'll be leaving as soon as the king called. And, if possible, speak with Antoine." At the last sentence, the old general dipped his head down as if he knew that he was lying to himself.

Sally knew what General D'Cooleete was talking about. His son, Antoine, was traveling with her parents on the hopes of talking to the various kingdoms not affected by the Eggman Empire to join in the Knothole's cause of defeating the Overlander. So far, that had been as successful as the general getting to talk to his only son about anything other than military business.

Antoine had changed a lot in the last few months. No longer the cowardly coyote, he had become the strong fighter that the kingdom needed when Sonic "died" a year ago. Sally wondered if that was what set it off, but the change was so radical in such a short amount of time that it seemed that he was a totally different person.

To make it even more shocking, Antoine, out of the blue, just broke things off with Bunnie, his sweetheart, without any explanation. This bothered the princess on two parts: that two people who were so in love in each other would call it quits, and that the coyote commander could be back to his old antics, meaning that he just might try again to win her hand in marriage with Sonic out of the way. She could not entirely blame him for the whole thing as both her father and his had pushed for it in the beginning. Now, while General D'Coolette would not endorse it, she feared that her father will, but Antoine had yet to make his move if that was his intention. Sally could not help but feel bad about the whole thing. Instead of hating him for it, she felt sad because she knew that she would never love him as she had loved Sonic, but she does view him as a good man despite his flaws.

"You know, speaking of maturing," Sally said, "Antoine really has changed a lot."

"Yes, he certainly has," the general said as he sat up in his chair. "Course, as of now, I wonder if it was for better or for worse. He may be much stronger now, but I fear that he has forgotten about the importance of family, friends, and love. I blame this cursed war." He coughed more into his hand.

Sally nodded in melancholy as she remembered the goofy coyote that she knew when she, Sonic, and Rotor first formed the Knothole Freedom Fighters after their old home of Mobotropolis was taken over by Robotnik. As she would not admit to anyone, she missed the old Antoine.

A bell chimed in, alerting the two as they turn their attention to the screen as it turned on, revealing Queen Alicia and King Maximillian, both looking tired and maybe a little ill.

"Mother, Father," Sally greeting.

"Hello, Dear. General," Queen Alicia greeted with a small smile to the two.

"Your Majesties," the general said as he stood up from his seat, his body rocking a bit as he try to maintain his balance.

"Good heavens," the king looked at him, "I thought I look bad, old friend, but you look even worse."

"Yes," the general acknowledged. "Quack believes that it may be poison we may have obtain during the Great War that was just showing up now."

"Well, a fine time for it to do so," the king said. "In all honesty, I don't know which is more sickening, us or all of this nonsense. Each kingdom we've visited has ended in total rejection. They cannot, or will not, understand that this will mean the very survival of their states as much as ours."

"At least St. Bismarck is willing to look into the matter," Queen Alicia said, trying to make the situation not seem entirely hopeless.

"Yes, I suppose so," King Max said, his mood sounding a bit better. "With them sending in their prince to evaluate, as they put it, we should not have any problems in convincing him that St. Bismarck should help us. He is a very reasonable young man and I'm positive that he will help us out." He turned toward his daughter. "Sally, has he arrived yet?"

"No, not yet," she said. She admit that she was surprised to learn yesterday that somebody was actually coming over here to check things out about the war with Eggman.

"It's been over ten years since we last had him come over to visit us," the queen said with a simple smile. "He has been looking forward in meeting you again, Sally."

"Sure, I guess," she said with an uninterested look.

"Just make sure that you treat him kindly," Queen Alicia reminded Sally for the umpteenth time since she got the news.

"Yes, Mother, I know," Sally said, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"Princess Sally," King Max called by her title, which she recognized that he was serious about the whole thing. "Do not underestimate the importance of this. Your attitude could be the difference between success and failure. The prince is very much beloved in his kingdom and if anything should happen to him we could be blamed for it, even if Eggman was the direct cause of it. Treat this as if of any important mission you lead out in the battlefield previously."

"Yes, Father," Sally nodded, getting really tired of all of the lectures that she had been getting about how she should act in front of the incoming guest. She was already feeling that she was not going to enjoy this much.

"If everything goes well, we may be able to have St. Bismarck as our ally," General D'Coolette remarked, but his body started to sway a bit.

"It's a long shot, as they say," King Max said, "but I have confidence in the lad that he'll help us. This could also be a good opportunity for Sally to find a potential husband."

"Daddy!" Sally screamed, her face flushing with embarrassing anger.

"Sally," the king retorted forcefully. "You know that, sooner or later, that you must marry when you ascend to the throne as Queen."

"I know that. It's just that…" She paused, her tongue getting tied up as she tried to find other ways to tell her father about the issue without relying on old ones. "Don't you think it's a bit early to be discussing something like this?"

"Sally," the king said, his voice sterner. "You are coming of age as of this moment. You are the sole heir to the Throne of Acorn as Elias abdicated his rightly title. And, since I am ill, there is no telling how long I can go on ruling the kingdom. As such, we must prepare ourselves for the inevitable."

"I know all of that! But, why-"

Before Sally could continue, she caught from the corner of her vision of General D'Coolette toppling over towards the ground like a tree being fell by the ax. He slammed down to the floor, with Queen Alicia screaming in horror and King Max calling out for the old general.

"General!" Sally ran towards the fallen coyote as he lay with his eyes close, his body convulsing as he let out more excruciating coughs. "Nicole, call for an ambulance!"

"Ambulance is on its way," the computer reported.

The fighting below stopped as the participants halted with what they were doing, looking up on the second landing to find Sally aiding the ailing general. As if her cue, Fiona rushed up to them and started to examine the down coyote.

"His pupils are dilating," she said as she shined her light into his eyes. "His breathing and heart seem to be normal. It looks like he could be going into a stroke."

The ambulance finally arrived, laying the unconscious general onto a stretcher and carrying him out of the training area. As Sally watched the whole thing unfold along with her teammates, with the upcoming visit from this prince of St. Bismarck weighing on her mind, she wondered what other things could be waiting to happen as the day continue.


End file.
